North Carroll Soccer Club (NCSC) is a non-profit, volunteer-driven soccer club located in Hampstead, Maryland (Northeast Carroll County). NCSC serves players in all areas of Carroll County as well as communities in Northern Baltimore County, MD and Southern PA. We are a proud member of Maryland State Youth Soccer Association (MSYSA) and US Soccer. NCSC offers soccer training and league opportunities for boys and girls born from 2018 to 2011.

While we are both affiliated with North Carroll Recreation Council, NCSC is a club/travel program, providing competitive training and match environments. North Carroll in-house program provides recreational soccer. We operate independently from one another. Many members of our club were introduced to soccer through the North Carroll in-house program.

Recreational soccer is usually the introduction of soccer to young players. It focuses on having fun, learning the game, and developing basic skills.

Club/travel soccer provides a competitive training and match environment where players are expected to have a high-level of commitment and interest in the game. Teams are determined through a tryout process usually held in April/May and will remain together training and playing throughout the fall season and into the winter and spring seasons. Players are evaluated at the end of each season and roster movement is possible among teams based on commitment and performance.

Some parents hear the term "travel team" and envision spending 3-4 hours each weekend in the car traveling to and from games. For the most part, this is not the case. All practice and home game fields are either at North Carroll Middle School or Cape Horn Park. League games (8-10 in the fall, 6-8 in the spring) are usually split evenly between home and away games. The majority of the teams we face in league games are within a 45 minute drive of 21074, with very few being more than an hour away.

Tournament selection is left to the coaches. There are many tournament opportunities throughout the year that are well within a 1-hour drive. Some teams will play an "away" tournament that may require an overnight stay; most coaches limit these to 1 per season and they tend to be great team building events.

Teams that choose to play indoor soccer in the winter have a variety of options, most of which are located in within a 45 minute drive.

In general, NCSC teams play year round (fall, winter, spring) with a few exceptions. Fall seasons typically consist of two 90-minute training sessions per week, 8-10 league games, and 2 or more tournaments. Winter seasons typically involve playing in an indoor soccer league and/or training once a week. A typical spring season consists of one to two 90-minute training sessions per week, 6-8 league games and possibly one tournament. Players are encouraged to practice technical skills on their own when not training with their teams.

Since NCSC is a volunteer-run club, parents can expect to volunteer some of their time at the team level.  This could include things like coaching, being the team manager, volunteering skills, and/or working with other volunteers to line fields periodically.

Most, if not all teams, play in either EDP or CMSA. Both of which provide a variety of competition levels.

NCSC coaching staff is comprised of volunteer coaches with qualified coaching experience, at various levels (youth, middle-school, and high-school). Our coaches complete annual background checks, as well as Heads Up and Safe Sport trainings. Many are working toward and/or carry US Soccer D, C, or B licenses. Our staff is growing and opportunities for coaches to get involved are available. Coaching inquiries should be directed to our club president.

If a player is selected and accepts an offer for a team, there is a club commitment fee of $200 per year (as of the 2024/25 soccer year). In addition to that, players are responsible for buying a uniform kit which is typically less than $150. Uniforms are on a 2-year cycle with the next new uniform cycle beginning the 2025/26 soccer year.

Aside from those two items, the team will have its own budget usually put together by the coach and divided over the number of players on the team. The budget will be used for items such as league registration, referee fees, tournament entry fees, team equipment, and trainer fees as well as other items. These team fees are usually collected by the coach per season (fall, winter, spring) with some teams splitting them up into payments for convenience. Yearly team fees are typically less than $1,000. To put that in perspective, many clubs have team fees in excess of double or triple that for the same amount of field time. Many teams organize fundraisers to offset costs for families and NCSC encourages that.

We encourage our players to play other sports and activities but do ask that soccer takes priority during the fall season. Meaning players are committed to all NCSC games and events during that time. We do ask that players clearly communicate other commitments to their coach.